Sequential timer



April 3, 1962 F. c. JONES SEQUENTIAL TIMER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1957 E0 rim umzE T555 15 ESE fave-222 57 W fiederzlc' aJmes F. C. JONES SEQUENTIAL TIMER April 3, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24, 1957 f 721/672227": Frederic C. \forzes J g Q? April 3, 1962 F. c. JONES SEQUENTIAL TIMER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 24, 1957 fnz/enf fieaierzlc Cl/nes April 1962 F. c. JONES 3,028,457

SEQUENTIAL TIMER Filed May 24, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 jag '36 CYCLE 72:26; WATER SELECTOR T g CONTROL 4/6/17- 69'- p;,+?-|

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P-l 1/4 f M 2 1 L r LVPZJ L l r (IN/7" 5W 0 La WARMVHOT SELECTOR 5H- T/MER fnz/erzfir: 5g 1 rederzlc' C'. kfones H67 cow MIX/N6 VALVE W United States Patent 3,028,457 SEQUENTIAL TIMER Frederic C. Jones, Decatur, 111., assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 24, 1957, Ser. No. 661,387

7 Claims. (Cl. 20038) The present invention relates to a linearly arranged sequential timer operable automatically to control various functions of an automatic laundry machine.

In general, the sequential timer of the present invention represents an improvement of the timer disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,641,661, Lateral Timer Switch, issued to G. O. Puerner et al. on June 9, 1953, and US. patent application Serial No. 262,760, filed December 21, 1951, now abandoned, by Joseph M. Gartner, entitled Sequential Controller.

The controllers disclosed in the above identified patent and patent application relate generally to one wherein a carriage supporting a plurality of pairs of contacts is moved along a linear path by the engagement of the carriage with a lead screw driven by an electric motor.

Current is supplied to the contacts through trolleys engageable with and slidable along corresponding stationary bus bars. The pairs of contacts are actuated by the cooperation between cam followers integral with at least one contact between each pair of contacts and corresponding stationary, linearly arranged cam surfaces disposed between the bus bars. The cams, formed with a predetermined contour, are linearly transversed by the followers, thus actuating the contacts or switches in a predetermined sequence. Means are also provided for disengaging the carriage from the lead screw and for disengaging the followers from the cam surfaces so that the carriage may be moved manually back and forth along the linearly path normally transversed by the carriage, thus making it possible to set the carriage for automatic movement by the lead screw from any desired point along the linear path.

While the linear timer disclosed in the patent and in the patent application has enjoyed considerable commercial success, it has one major drawback and this drawback is the use of the trolleys to transfer current to and from the plurality of contacts to the bus bar. As the trolleys are moved linearly across the bus bars there is a considerable amount of heat produced, due primarily to uncontrollable arcing between the trolleys and the bus bars. Consequently, the current load which may be transferred from the bus bars to the contacts and back to the bus bars is quite limited since the higher the amperage of the current flowing between these elements, the greater is the heat produced.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide an improved linear timer and this object is obtained by eliminating the trolleys from the timer switch disclosed in the above identified patent and application.

Thus, the present invention comprises a timer having a plurality of stationary electrical contacts provided with depending portions, and a cam board which is moved linearly across said plurality of contacts to engage said depending'portions and thereby make and break said plurality of contacts.

the casing of the sequential timer;

Other features and advantages of the present invention ice FIG, 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and looking into the timer mechanism from the top thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on theline 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the electrical contacts of the timer;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the electrical contacts;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the cam profile of the cam board 16; and,

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of the wiring system for an automatic clothes washing machine using the sequential timer contemplated by this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 there is disclosed an automatic washing machine designated by the letter A and comprising ingeneral a cabinet B which houses the entire mechanism and control system therefor and which may include a cover C, a front panel D, side panels E and F, and a control panel G forming a part of and projecting upwardly from the cover C. The cover Cv is provided with a hinged lid H through which clothes may be introduced into the machine. Thehinged lid H is so disposed with respect to the openings in the cover C that it will be flush with the surface of the cover when it is in its closed position.

On the left hand side of the control panel G there is disposed a control switch 10 which provides a means for normally selectively regulating the operation of an auto matic temperature mixing valve (not shown) normally forming a part of the water inlet assembly (notshown).

On the right hand side of the control panel G there is disposed a control knob 12 forming a part of a sequential control 13 and which provides a means for normally operating said switch controller, this operation to be described in more detail hereinafter. The length of the washing cycle may be predetermined and set within certain limits by the manual adjustment of the control knob 12 in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter.

The sequential control 13 contemplated by this inven tion comprises, in general, a housing 14 of a generally rectangular shape; a stationary electrical switch contact block 15; a linearly movable cam board 16; a lead screw 17 driven by a constant speed electric motor 18; a clutch means 19 for moving said cam board 16 out of engagement with said electrical contact block 15 whereby the cam board 16 may be set at any predetermined position on the cycle; and a water fill control cam 29.

The housing 14 comprises a front wall 22, a rear wall 23, end walls 24 and 25 and top and bottom walls 26 and 27. Fixedly secured to the front wall 22 of the housing are a plurality of projecting brackets 28, 29 and 30 respectively provided with slots 32, 33 and 34, these slots being adapted to receive bolts and nuts suitably carried by adjacent portions of the machine cabinet to which the sequential controller is affixed.

The electric motor 18 has a drive shaft 35 projecting into the wall 25 of the housing 14 and upon it there is mounted a pinion gear 36 adapted for driving engagement with a driven gear 37 mounted adjacent an end portion of the lead screw 17. The particular speed at which the cam board 16 moves across the electrical contact board 15 may be changed by merely changing the size of the pinion 36 and/or the driven gear 37.

The cam board 16 is mounted in the housing 14 for linear movement therein and is mounted upon a plate 38 having tongues or projections 39 adapted to project into slots 40 provided in the cam board 16. Mounted on the projections 39 of the plate 38 by means of pins 42 are rollers 43 which ride in slots 44 in the bottom and top walls 27 and 26 of the housing 14. A control rod 45 projects through a longitudinal slot 46 in the front wall 22 of the housing 14, extends through an opening 47 in the plate 38, through an opening 48 in the cam board 16,

3 and is flanged as at 49 to provide a connection with the cam board 16. The control knob 12 is attached to the other end of the control rod 45. Complementary recesses 52 and 53 are provided in the plate 38 and the cam board 16 respectively and a coil spring 54 is disposed between the plate 38 and board 16 and rests within recesses 52 and 53 tending to urge the cam board 16 away from the plate 58 and in a position whereby the cam surfaces of the board 16 engage the contacts of the elec trical contact board 15. The board 33 has a projection 55 formed with cam surfaces 56 and '7 and detents 5i;

- and 59. An opening 60 is provided in the control rod 45 and a pin 62 is provided in and extends from said opening and is in engagement with the projection 55. By turning the control knob 12 to either the right or to the left the pin 62 rides upon the cam surface 56 or 57 and into the detents 58 or 59. This cam action moves the cam board 16 from a position wherein its cams will engage the contact board 15 to a position wherein the cams of the board 16 will not engage the contact board 15.

There is also provided in the plate 38 an L-shaped member 63 having a half nut 64 therein and extending through an opening 65 in the plate 38 and terminating in a flanged head 66. A coil compression spring 67 has one end thereof resting in a recess 68 of the plate 38 and has its other end resting against the flange 66 whereby the half nut is urged into engagement with the lead screw 17. It will be noted that when the cam board is moved out of engagement with the contact board 15 that the cam board will engage the flanged end 66 of the L-shaped member 63 to move the half nut 64 away from the lead screw 17 thereby disengaging the nut from the lead screw. This permits an uninterrupted movement of the cam board 16 and half nut 64- along a linear path.

The electrical contact block 15 is mounted on the rear wall of the housing 14 by suitable fastening means such as rivets 69. Disposed within the contact block 15 are a plurality of electrical conducting arms 71-78 inclusive, each respectively provided with contact points 81-88 inelusive; a plurality of conducting arms 92-99 inclusive, the arm 92 having a contact point 102 thereon, the arm 93 having a contact point 103, the arm 94 having a contact point 104, the arm 95 having a contact point 105, the arms 96 and 97 having contact points 106 and 107 respectively, the arm 98 having contact points 108 and 109, and the arm 99 having contact points 1 and 111. De pending from each of the conducting arms 92-99 are arms 113 which are adapted to engage the cam board 16 as the cam board is moved linearly with respect to the stationary contact block 15. The conducting arms 71-78 inclusive are connected to a common lead 114 and the conducting arms 92-99 inclusive are connected to individual leads 115-122 inclusive, respectively.

The cam board 16 has a plurality of cam tracks 124-134 inclusive, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 9. The cam surfaces of these tracks are adapted to make and break the electrical contacts of the contact block by engaging the arms 113 as the cam board is moved across the block by means of the lead screw 17. The track 124 of the board 16 is adapted to engage the arm 113 of the conducting arm 92; the track 125 is engaged by the depending arm 113 of the conducting arm 93; the track 126 is engaged by the depending arm 113 of the conducting arm 94; and the tracks 127-134 inclusive, respectively engage the arms 113 of the tracks 74, 95, 75, 96, 97, 76, 77 and 78.

The leads 114-122 inclusive are connected to various elements of the washing machine and these elements are sequentially operated as the cam board 16 is moved across the contact block 15. The lead 114 is one side of an AC. line and the lead 121 is the other side of the line; the lead 115 is connected to a timer light 135 and a water selector light 136 (FIG. 9); the lead 116 is connected to one side of a water selector switch 137, the other side of the switch being connected to the lead 118;

and the leads 119, 122 and are connected to a motor 138 for operating the washing machine.

It is contemplated that the present clothes washing machine incorporate what is known in the art as a time fill for filling the tub of the machine with water. With such a filling operation, a predetermined amount of water is flowed into the tub through an orifice during a definite time interval. As will be understood, the amount of water flowing through a particular size orifice during a definite set time will vary, depending on the water pressure. sure, the fill cam assembly 21 is provided. The fill cam comprises, in general, a plate 141 rotatably secured to the bracket 28 by means of a rivet 142. A series of indexing holes 14.3 am provided in the bracket 23 and a detent 144 is provided in an extension of the plate 141 for engaging the holes 143. The other end of the plate 141 is provided with a cam surface 145 which is adapted to be engaged by a collar 146 which is fixedly secured to the rod 45 by a pin 147. The particular position of the cam plate-141 determines the starting position of the sequential timer. If a high water pressure is available where the machine is installed, the cam plate 141 would be placed in the position shown in FIG. 3 to provide a comparatively short fill time, whereas if the pressure is low the detent 144 would be moved to the right as seen in FIG. 3 to move the cam 145 to a position wherein the fill portion of the timer cycle would be increased. V

In operation, the waterselector control knob 10 is moved to the desired position, either hot or warm, and the knob 12 is moved to the start position of the dial shown in FIG. 2 and rotated either to the left or to the right to engage the half nut 64 with the lead screw 17 and to place the cam board 16 into engagement with the arms 113 of the contact block 15. The arms 113 of the conducting arms 92, 93, 94, 74, 9'7, 76, 77 and 78 engage the tracks 124, 125, 126, 127, 131, 132, 133 and sentations of the present invention may be undertaken without departing from the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A circuit controller comprising the combination including stationary circuit controlling means, a linearly movable cam profile, said profile being movable at the same rate of speed throughout its linear movement, said circuit controlling means including means engageable with said linearly movable cam profile efiective to control operation of said circuit controlling means, motor means for efiecting linear movement of said cam profile, and manually operable means for simultaneously effecting disconnection of said cam profile from said circuit controlling means and said motor means from said cam profile during travel of said cam profile for elfecting manual movement of said cam profile in a linear path in either direction and in spaced relation to said circuit controlling means.

2. A circuit controller comprising the combination including a plurality of stationary switches and arranged to be operated in a predetermined sequence, a linearly movable cam board, said cam board being movable at the" same rate of speed throughout its linear movement, said switches including means engageable with the cams of said linearly movable cam board effective to control operation of said switches, motor means for eifecting linear movement of said cam profile, and manually operable means for simultaneously effecting disconnection of said cam board from said engageable means and said in order .to compensate for variations in presmotor means from said cam board during travel of said 3. A sequential controller comprising the combination including a plurality of stationary switches and arranged to be operated in a predetermined sequence, a linearly movable cam board having a plurality of linearly arranged cam tracks thereon, said switches including means engageable with the tracks or said linearly movable cam board and efiective to control the operation of said switches, motor means, a lead screw, means for connecting said motor to said lead screw and means for connecting said cam board ,to said lead screw whereby said motor means may effect linear movement of said cam board, and manually operable means for simultaneously etr'ecting disconnection of said cam board from said switches and said lead screw to provide manual movement of said cam board ina linear path in either direction in spaced relation to said engageable means.

4. A sequential controller comprising the combination including a housing, a plurality of stationary switches secured to said housing, a linearly movable cam board having a plurality of cam tracks thereon, said switches including means engageable with the tracks of said linearly movable cam board and efiective to control the operation of said switches, motor means, a lead screw, means for connecting said motor to said lead screw and means for connecting said cam board to said lead screw whereby said motor means may effect linear movement of said cam board, and manually operable means for efiecting disconnection of said camboard from said engageable means of said switches and from said lead screw to provide manual movement of said cam board in a linear path in either direction, said manually operable means comprising a rotatable control rod, and cam means associated with said housing and said cam board to provide movement of said board axially with respect to said housing.

5. A circuit controller comprising the combination including a housing, a plurality of stationary switches attached to one wall of said housing, a linearly movable I cam board slidably connected to said housing and adapted to be moved across said cam board, said switches including means engageable with the cams of said linearly movable cam board efiective to control operation of said switches, motor means for eifecting linear movement of said cam board, and manually operable means for simultaneously effecting disconnection of said cam board from said engageable means and said motor means from said cam board to provide manual movement of said cam board in a linear path in either direction in spaced relation to said engageable means.

6. A sequential controller comprising the combination including an elongated housing having a front wall, a rear wall, and two side walls, a stationary contact block comprising a plurality of switches attached to the rear wall of said housinga'linearly movable cam board having a plurality of linearly arranged cam tracks'thereon, a pair of longitudinal slots in the side walls of said housing, a support member for said camboard having a plurality of rollers thereon, said rollers being positioned in said longitudinal slots, a motor, a lead screw driven by said motor, means associated with said support member and engaging said lead screw whereby said motor is effeetive to rotate said lead screw and drive said support and cam board in a linear direction, said switches having means attached thereto and engageable with the tracks of said cam board and effective as the cam board is moved linearly across said stationary contact block to control operation of said switches, and manually operable means for effecting disconnection of said cam board tracks from said switches and from said lead screw to provide manual movement of said cam board in a linear path in either direction exclusive of said motor.

7. A sequential controller comprising the combination including an elongated housing having a front wall, a rear wall, and two side walls, a stationary contact block comprising a plurality of switches attached to the rear wall of said housing, a linearly movable cam board having a plurality of linearly arranged cam tracks thereon, a

pair of longitudinal slots in the side walls of said housing,

a support member for said cam board having a plurality of rollers thereon, said rollers being positioned in said longitudinal slots, a motor, a lead screw driven by said motor, means associated with said support member and engaging said lead screw whereby said motor is effective to rotate said lead screw and drive said support and cam board in a linear direction, said switches having means attached thereto and engageable with the tracks of said cam board and effective as the cam board is moved linearly across said stationary contact block to control operation of said switches, and manually operable means for eflfecting disconnection of said cam board tracks from said switches and from said lead screw to provide manual movement of said cam board in a linear path in either direction exclusive of said motor, said manually operable means comprising a rotatable control rod rota-tably secured to said cam board and slidably secured to said support member, cam means on said support member and cam engaging means on said control rod whereby rotation of said control rod will move said cam board away from said contact block, said cam board as it moves away engaging said lead screw engaging means to disengage said means from the lead screw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 585,915 Johnston July 6, 1897 671,106 Cowperthwait Apr. 2, 1901 1,757,124 Lauterbur et al. May 6, 1930 1,905,228 James Apr. 25, 1933 2,394,464 McChesney Feb. 5, 1946 2,600,350 Webster et al. June 10, 1952 2,641,661 Puerner et a1. June 9, 1953 

